


Done being Selfless

by Sariel19



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Captain America - Freeform, Falling In Love, Fix-It, Fluff, M/M, Protective Steve Rogers, Protectiveness, Steve Rogers Feels, Stony - Freeform, Tiberius Stone - Freeform, Time Travel, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-02-16 06:45:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18686251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sariel19/pseuds/Sariel19
Summary: Spoiler for Endgame!Steve is done being selfless, this is his chance to be truly happy and he will take it.





	1. Chapter 1

“And stick to the plan, just bring the stones back and then return. Easy.”

“Sure.”

“Cap… I am serious, don’t try to change anything. Stick to the plan.”, Sam tried to meet Steve´s eyes, but the Soldier looked straight ahead.

“I heard you the first time.”

Captain America took the last steps up the platform.

“Are you ready Steve?”, asked Bruce Banner, who stood behind some kind of construction, which was basically a time machine, together with the platform Steve was standing on.

“Ready.”

Another short answer, he was behaving strange and everybody noticed it, but Steve volunteered for this mission.

“You think this is a good idea? He´s been acting strange all morning.”, whispered Sam to Bucky, who stood right next to him, his eyes trained on Steve.

“What do you wanna do about it? He is gonna do it, not matter what we think about it.”, drawled Bucky, he´s not convinced that Steve will stick to the plan, but like he said, there was nothing for them to do about it.

“Nobody’s more stubborn than the Captain,”, joked the other super soldier, but without real humour behind it.

The situation was tense and felt like a goodbye, Sam still trusted Steve, that was the only reason he didn’t stop Bruce from sending Cap back in time.

It was only hours after Tony´s funeral.

“How long will this take?”, asks Sam the minute Steve disappeared, he prayed to god that his friend would not do anything stupid.

“He will take as long as he needs, but for us it will only be seconds.”, explained Bruce, but nothing happened.

“Where is he?”, Sam´s voice shook as he turned to Bucky, the Soldier seem like this was exactly what he thought would happen.

 

After taking all the stones where they belonged, Steve used the time machine again, but not to go back.

He had done so much for his Universe, he fought in so many wars and lost way too many friends, this was his turn to have a happy life…

It took him some time to find the place and the time he needed to be, but in the end it all worked out fine.

Getting a new identity was tricky, but Steve learned some tricks while working for Shield, for certain missions, especially stealth mission it was vital to become someone else.

The year was 1995 and Steve was on his way to a job interview in Manhattan, there was not way around working if he wanted to pay rent and be able to buy food, even if you are a superhero.

“Mr. Steve Barker?”, a young woman came into the waiting area and smiled politely at him as Steve got up and walked over to her.

His start in this universe was not all Superhero-like, he had to ‘burrow’ the suit he was now wearing, he would return it as soon as he had the job.

“Follow me.”

The woman took him to a big empty office, in the middle was an expensive looking table with one leather chain and two plastic chairs on the other side.

“They will be with you shortly.”

Steve took a seat in front of the desk and tried to calm his racing heart, his hands were sweaty, and he tugged at the tie around his neck, because all of a sudden it felt way to tight.

When the doors opened again after some time, Steve´s breath caught in his throat, his legs seemed to have a mind of their own as he stood in greeting and immediately noticed how eager he must look.

The man to step first into the office was non-other than Obadiah Stane, Steve only remembered his face from various news article he found in Tony´s Shield files.

But he was not the one that caused that reaction from the blond, it was who followed the big bald man.

Tony Stark stepped into the office and Steve though his heart would stop, this was planned, he applied for the job as Tony´s personal Bodyguard but planning and actually seeing are two different things.

The last time he had seen Tony was when he was dying on the battlefield.

He looked so good, his hair was perfectly styled, he was obviously way younger, if Steve hadn’t made a mistake, he was 25 years old.

There was now sorrow in his brown eyes, only life and the cheekiness that was purely Tony, he looked so much happier and carefree.

He was so beautiful that it hurt to look at him.

Just because Steve had a large amount of self-control meant that he was able to keep his tears back, but he was still staring, and both men seemed to notice.

Stane rolled his eyes and stepped right in front of the blond so that Tony vanished behind his body, he gripped Steve´s hand in greeting.

“Mr. Barker, what a pleasure to meet you.”, that sounded as dishonest as it gets.

Tony´s reaction to Steve´s staring was grinning and after that he winked.

“Mr. Stane, Mr. Stark, the pleasure is all mine.”, Steve tried to be as polite as possible, but this was not his area, he never understood how Tony could handle all those bootlickers.

Now he tried to be one himself because he wanted to be near Tony, he wanted to chance their lives, give both of them something to live for.

He knew that Tony had the potential to fall in love with him, that was one of the topics they talked about after Tony came back from Titan, it took them some time to be friends again after everything that had happened.

But one quiet night on Tony´s newly build patio in front of his and Peppers house, they drank beer and talked about the past.

And while Tony´s wife and daughter where sleeping peacefully inside the house, the older man told Steve that he was in love with him before the Civil war, but that after that there never was a chance for them, never would be.

It had hit Steve like wreaking ball, he never would have thought that his feelings where reciprocated, just to learn that they once were but that all hope was lost now.

He never answered Tony, never told him about his own feelings, because it wasn’t his place, not while Tony had a loving wife and a beautiful daughter.

But now, for once in his life Steve wanted to do what would make him happy, he cared about nothing but his and Tony´s happiness, he was done with fighting somebody else’s war.

There would be no Iron man, because Steve would protect Tony from being kidnapped in the first place, he would not go through that pain, not under Cap´s watch.

The interview was a catastrophe, Stane seemed to hate his guts instantly, probably because Steve was looking like a crazy fanboy.

“I want him.”, said Tony at the end and signed a couple of papers, Stane looked gobsmacked.

“Be here at Monday sharp, you will get one of the apartments upstairs, I literally live in my workshop, so you only need to be here.”, smirked the young man and Steve had to keep himself from just pulling him into a hug.

 

Because Steve had literally nothing in this universe moving was not a big deal, he had the weekend to figure everything out with his new apartment at the top of the Stark industries building, before he had to start working at Monday.

His plan was to make Tony fall for him as quick as possible and he would succeed, there was no question about that, this was what he waited for his whole life, a quiet perfect life with the person he loved most in the world.

“I knew that uniform would look lovely on you, let me guess, you were a quarterback in high school?”, was the first words Tony said to him on his first day of work.

The uniform was black and truth to be told a bit tight for the blond.

“Not, sir. I am more the soldier type.”, said Steve and tried to act normal, even though he wanted nothing more than kiss the genius right now, but Tony barely knew him.

“Is that so?”, purred Tony and took a sip of his coffee.

“What is the plan for today?”, asked Steve to get their conversation back in safer territory, not that he didn’t enjoy flirting with Tony, but he had a job to fulfil and he wanted to be more than an affair to the genius.

“I´m just going to tinker a bit and there a new design´s I have to test for Obie. Nothing interesting tough, you don’t have to be here for that.”

“I´m sure watching you work will be interesting.”, said Steve kindly and smiled as Tony looked surprised but pleased.

His goal was making Tony fall in love with him and so far, everything worked perfectly.


	2. Chapter 2

The first weeks were going better than Steve had thought, he felt a bit guilty after he had found out that Happy Hogan was one of the candidates for the job as Tony´s Bodyguard.

The thing was, now he had already changed the past, so everything would be different and knowing how Tony´s life was in the other Universe did nothing for Steve here.

He met Pepper a couple of days into his job, so that stayed the same at least, but one of the major differences was that Tony was a bit on the wild side, but nothing near what he had heard about his past.

There were no big parties, he didn’t bring home women every night, Tony was spending most of his time in his workshop if he didn’t have important meetings.

So, either Steve had changed this universe so much already or what he knew about Tony´s past wasn’t even true.

But one thing stayed the same, Obadiah Stane was the biggest jerk Steve had ever met.

The man had stepped up as Tony´s mentor after his parents had died and the genius seemed to trust him but more out of lack of alternatives than real belief.

Stane was never outright hostile to Steve, he stayed as polite as it was expected but the former Captain wasn’t buying any of it, he saw how Stane used Tony´s nativity and loneliness to manipulate him.

And Steve knew Stane would try the same thing he did in his original universe, he would try to get Tony out of the way to take over the company.

Not that Steve would allow that.

 

“The thing is, I don’t even like those kinds of events. People are just telling you what you want to hear because they want your money. You never know they compliment you because they mean it or because they want me to transfer them enough money to start a new project.”

Steve frowned at the frustrated tone in Tony´s voice, they were currently in Tony´s apartment, also in the Stark Industries building.

The genius came out of his bedroom, already styled for the technical conference that would take place in one hour from now.

As his bodyguard Steve had a whole closet full of clothes for every circumstance, the suit was grey, and the jacket hid the weapon strapped to Steve´s upper body.

Tony suit was absolutely gorgeous, Tony as a whole looked gorgeous.

The suit was black but looked like it was painted on.

“But you don’t need them to tell you that you look beautiful, you already know that.”, said the blond, he had to be careful, he didn’t want to dome on to strong, but after these couple of weeks, he knew how far he could go, before Tony turned suspicious.

And the risk was worth it as he saw a slight blush appear on the cheeks of the genius and for the smile that Tony could not supress.

“Such a charmer.”, snarked he, but Steve knew that he liked it.

This was just what Tony did, he wanted to act tough, but he really wasn’t.

Tony was not Iron Man in this universe, but he still hid behind armour, even if you could not see it.

“Just be polite and give them a smile here and there, I will make sure nobody is coming to close.”

It was extraordinary how much Tony already trusted him, extraordinary but also frightening, because he was that trusting to everyone.

This was the Tony Stark, before the people he trusted and loved betrayed him and selled him to the highest bidder.

“You´re my knight in shining armour, aren’t you?”, mocked the genius, without real heat, there was a hopeful truth behind his words.

“Having a knight in shining armour doesn’t sound so bad now does it?”, jokes the blond before he stood from the couch and stepped right in front of his boss.

Steve straightened Tony´s tie and ran his fingers under his collar innocently, he enjoined the way the genius became shy every time Steve touched him.

“We should go if we want to be there on time.”, whispered the blond, his intentions were to make Tony fall in love with him and he never said that he would play fair.

Tony´s eyes narrowed as the bigger one of the two took a step back, his eyes zoomed in on the spot were Steve hid the weapon under his jacket.

“Is a weapon really necessary? What do you think will happen there?”, grumbled Tony and that was it with their moment.

“It is just e precaution. I do not intend to use it.”

The genius was not satisfied with that answer, but he seemed to understand that that was not up to negotiation.

 

The ballroom where the conference took place was crowded, it looked mot like a party than a conference if Steve was honest.

It unnerved him that there were so many people, there was no way that he would have full control over the situation at any time.

“Loosen up a bit, you´re making me nervous.”, said Tony and smiled at a couple that greeted him.

“Tony! What a pleasure to see you again!”

The man that approached them was bigger than Tony, but smaller than Steve, he was thin but athletic looking, his hair was blond, and his eyes were green.

For tony it obviously was no pleasure at all to see the guy, which meant that Steve was immediately unnerved by him.

“Tiberius, what a surprise. Meet my bodyguard Steve Barker.”

And the genius didn’t even hide it that he hates the guys guts, the way he immediately pulled Steve into the conversation, said everything Steve needed to know.

“Nice to meet you.”

Steve´s voice was cold, and his eyes were even colder, if Tony didn’t want that guy around him than he had to leave, and Steve would assure he did.

“Yeah, whatever.”, was everything Tiberius said before his attention was back on Tony.

“Listen, after what happened last year we didn’t really talk. Let´s just get out of here and then we can talk about everything. I really missed you.”

Whatever he was talking about seemed to shock Tony, his brows furrowed as if he couldn’t belief what Tiberius was saying.

“No, you listen! I don’t want to talk, ever. I want you to leave me alone and this is the last time I will ask nicely.”, growled Tony quietly.

Tiberius looked hurt, but like he wanted to continue arguing.

“You heard what he said.”

Steve flexed his muscles so that the suit stretched dangerously over his arms and chest, he was already on the edge when he stepped foot into this building, and it would not take much more for that guy to get the beating of his life.

“This isn’t over.”

Was everything he said before he disappeared into the crowd, Tony´s tense posture relaxed a bit.

“Thank you, if you stick around long enough, I will tell you the whole story.”, joked the genius sounding already exhausted and the night had just started.

Steve would have loved to just throw him over his shoulder and carry him home, were he was safe and looked way happier.

 

But thankfully there was no more drama, just some people trying to get something from Tony by being overly nice.

“Ok, I think that was enough, I stayed here long enough and shook enough hands for one night.”

“And there were enough fake smiles.”, added Steve which made Tony look surprised but also a bit pleased.

“So, you noticed?”

“Hard not to when I know what an honest smile looks like on your face.”

And that sentence made one appear, for the first time this night, Tony´s real smiles were shy but oh so beautiful.

“Let´s get going, I just have to tell Obie that we are leaving.”

Steve wanted to groan at that statement, he really had enough of all those people for today, seeing Stane´s face would really ruin the night for him.

But he had his reactions under control and followed Tony dutifully.

“Tony, my boy!”

Stane snaked an arm around the shoulders of the genius and Steve had the sudden urge to break that arm.

“We are leaving, I have work to do in the workshop and contrary to popular beliefs I do need sleep.”, joked Tony, he leaned into Stane and that made Steve sick to the stomach.

The man became the closest thing to a farther that Tony had after Howard died, so obviously he behaved that way.

But still, if you were able to look behind Stane´s facade, you had the urge to grab Tony by the shoulders and give him a good shake.

“I wish you would not only say that but mean it. We both that you almost never sleep. I will see you tomorrow.”

And with that they were good to go.

“That was exhausting.”, whined the genius as they made their way up the Stark industries building.

Steve had made it his job to see to it that the genius was really going into his apartment and not to the workshop, Tony needed to sleep.

“But you did good.”

The genius looked up at the praise and went red, that was not what Steve wanted to archive but good to know that Tony reacted that way to praising.

“Thank you.”, mumbled the younger man shy, and Steve felt warmth pooling into his stomach.

This sweet shy version of Tony was totally becoming his favourite. he loved that Tony was fierce.

But showing only Steve this soft side was something special, and the blond had to concentrate not to react physically to that.

“Here we are, go straight to bed. I will now of you sneak down to your workshop.”, warned Steve.

Tony stepped to his door but hesitated before opening it, he turned back to Steve and his face was so open and honest that it made something constrict in Steve´s chest, his heart was picking up speed.

“I mean it, thank you. For today, I know it is your job to protect me, but… I think we´re friends… right?”

This was one of those moments where Steve was reminded of how young Tony was, he hadn’t really seen the horrors this world had to offer.

“Absolutely. We are friends and I want you to be safe, beyond my work.”, said Steve fiercely.

Tony gave Steve his sweetest smile before he opened the door to his apartment and disappeared behind it.

If Steve had a big smile on his face while he fell asleep that night, that was no ones business but his own.


	3. Chapter 3

Everything was going perfect, since that night at the conference their relationship took a turn in the right directions.

They acted more like friends around each other than employer and employee, even though Steve took his job pretty serious.

“Listen I’m done for today and I’m hungry.”, said Tony and turned in his chair, there were in Tony’s workshop now for five hours.

Steve sat on a couch near the door and was reading a book, that was what he did most days, watching Tony work or reading.

The genius had a lot of work to do and most of the meetings he was supposed to attend got cancel by him in the last minute, it was obvious that he didn’t like that part about his job, working in the workshop was what he loved.

“I’m your bodyguard not your cook.”, countered the blond and raised an eyebrow, Tony was still hard to read for him, the genius was so different but somehow still the same in this universe.

“No, nothing like that. I thought we could go out to eat something. Like pizza or whatever.”

Tony seemed nervous as he said that.

“You know that you don’t have to ask me, right? If you go out, I’m following you anyway, that’s my job.”

Steve furrowed his brows as he saw hurt in Tony’s eyes just for a second before the genius started another attempt and blushed a bit.

“I don’t want you to go out with- to go out to eat, with me, because you have to. I want to go as- as friends and you to come with me because you want to.”

It was hard for Tony to form the right sentence, but the blond understood anyway, and a warm feeling spread through his chest.

“Of course, I want to. And even if I do my job most of the day, doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy being in your company.”, said Steve with a soft smile, Tony was just to adorable for his own good sometimes.

“That’s good. I just need to take a shower and then I’m good to go.”, smiled the genius and made his way to the elevator before stopping.

“Can you wear something casual? If you go in your uniform, I feel like I’m paying you to spend time with me…”

This was an issue that Steve had already noticed a couple of weeks ago, Tony seemed to be uneasy around him because of the fact that he was paying Steve.

And the blond understood the problem, Tony’s self-esteem was, to say it nicely not the best, and because of that he had doubts about people’s intentions, especially with Steve.

Tony liked him and he was afraid that Steve only said he liked him back because he didn’t want to lose his job.

This was an issue that was not new to Tony, at least that was Steve’s assumption, the genius grew up as Howard Starks son, the heir to the Stark fortune, having fake people around you seemed to be a package deal.

“No problem. Don’t worry about that, I would offer to resign as your bodyguard if that made you more comfortable, but to be honest I trust nobody else with your safety.”

That seemed to satisfy the genius and it was nothing but the truth, he obviously wanted Tony to be comfortable around him, but after meeting Tiberius Stone and Stane, there was no way he would trust somebody else with Tony’s life.

 

Steve got back to his apartment and changed into casual clothes, a blue jean and a grey hoodie, Tony said something about pizza, so he would be underdressed hopefully.

Tony said he should dress casually, he didn’t say anything about not being armed, Steve was paranoid after everything that happened, going out without a weapon seemed like the dumbest thing to him these days.

What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

The blond hid the gun in his waistband put on his shoes before he left his apartment meet Tony by the elevator, but Steve took his time because he didn’t want to pressure the genius or anything, even though Steve was excited.

There was nothing casual about Tony’s look.

But truth to be told, Steve was sure the genius would look breath-taking in anything.

“That’s what you mean by casual?”, joked the blond and wished he had chosen the white button-down shirt instead of the hoodie.

“I said casual not like you just want to take a quick trip to the next fuel station to get cheap chips.”

“Charming.”, sighed Steve, but he was still smiling, as long as he was allowed to stare at Tony, he didn’t really care if he looked like a hobo.

The genius was dressed in form fitting black pants with a tight red pullover on the top and an expensive looking leather jacket to complete the look.

“You look good enough for the both of us. That has to be enough.”

Flirting with Tony became second nature to Steve, it was just so easy, and it made him happy to see the reactions.

“Come on Loverboy, or I’m going to starve.”

Steve was walking behind Tony and like the gentleman he was he held every door open for the genius, which was good because he wanted to impress Tony but also bad because that way, he got a good look of Tony’s behind, and sweet Jesus…

The pants were perfect and made Tony’s butt even rounder than normally, Steve could write poetry about that ass.

He enjoyed the view and so did his midsection, he had to rearrange himself as inconspicuous as possible, because otherwise this evening would be really awkward.

There was no denying his attraction to Tony.

 

The drove to an Italian restaurant not far from the Company building and Steve was sure that he would have never gotten in if it wasn’t for Tony.

This place was fancy, and the menu was enormous.

“We have to talk about your definition of casual.”, said Steve while looking through the menu and trying not to be overwhelmed, he had no idea what half of the dishes even were.

“Next time I’m hungry you can show my what casual means for you, deal?”

“Deal. Do you even have normal clothes, I mean stuff that does not look like it costs more than most people’s houses?”

They continued to joke like that for the whole evening, but the later it got, the more serious did their topics become, not that they didn’t have fun.

It was obvious to anybody that these two enjoyed each other’s company.

“Tonight, was great, really.”, said Steve softly after Tony told the waitress that they wanted to pay.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

The genius hesitated for a second before he placed his hand on top of Steve’s, which was resting on the table.

The blond turned his hand so that their hands were palm to palm, it was very intimate even tough they were just touching each other’s hand.

Steve wished the moment would have never ended, but when the waitress came back, Tony pulled his hand away to pay for their food.

“Next time, I’m paying.”, said Steve as they left the restaurant minutes later.

He would have loved to hold Tony’s hand on their way back to the building, but he knew that that was a bad idea, they were in a private separee inside the restaurant.

On the street the risk of somebody taking a photo was too high, he didn’t want Tony to get in trouble because of him.

“We should do that more often.”, smiled Tony while they entered the elevator in the Stark industries building.

“We really should.”

Steve took Tony’s hand in his, now that they were in the elevator there was not risk of being seen by anybody.

Tony immediately intertwined their fingers, but again the moment was way too short as they arrived at Tony’s apartment door.

“You could always come in, you know?”, whispered Tony shyly, and Steve hated that he had to reject that offer.

“I can’t. I want to do this right.”, admitted the blond and expected the genius to be sad or hurt, but his face lit up instead and he smiled brightly.

That was obviously the right thing to say.

“I’m glad.”

Steve smiled back before he took a step forward, so that he invaded Tony’s personal space.

“Good night.”

He kissed Tony’s cheek, before leaving the stunned genius to his own thoughts.

 

As Steve made it back to his own apartment, his movements were light, and he was grinning so much that his cheeks hurt.

But this time, his happiness was cut short for the night, he found an E-mail from Pepper on his Laptop.

Tiberius Stone was adamant to get an appointment with Tony, for business purposes, but Pepper was not convinced.

And Steve knew this meant trouble.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter ;))

“Its just one appointment, we are going to discuss what he wants and that’s it”

“Tony, this is a bad idea, we both now that Stone means trouble.”, said a concerned Pepper, while holding a clipboard to her chest.

“I agree.”, grumbled Steve, who leaned on the wall next to the door of Tony’s workshop.

Pepper had told Tony about Tiberius Stone and the fact that he was really adamant about getting an appointment with the genius.

Steve was not happy about the fact that Tony wanted to give in, Stone meant trouble like Pepper had already stated.

And trouble meant that Steve would most likely be the one to break Stone’s nose if he acted inappropriately or endangered Tony in any way.

“I understand your concerns, but I know him, he is not going to stop unless I do this. I’m going to talk to him about what he wants and when it turns out that his request is not about anything related to the business than he has to go. Easy. But ignoring him will do nothing.”, explained the genius and Steve understood the problem, but that didn’t help with the fact that the urge to hurt that guy got stronger with every word Tony said.

“I will be present for the whole conversation.”, said the blond and there was steel in his voice, he made it clear that that was not up for negotiation.

“To be honest, I think it is better if you are there anyway.”

And that statement from the genius got Pepper to look even more concerned than before, normally Tony wasn’t one to accept help.

“Ok, I will get him scheduled, but if he does one wrong move, I want him out immediately.”, said Pepper, the first part of the sentence was addressed to Tony, but when she came to the last part, she turned her attention to Steve.

“I will gladly escort him from the premise if it comes to that.”, said Steve almost gleeful.

If Stone would make one wrong move, Steve would do more than just escort him, he would give him a good reason to never go near to Tony ever again.

Steve knew that he was really protective about Tony, but as long as the genius was ok with it, he wouldn’t change, and it was his job after all.

“Deal.”, said the genius, before Pepper left, she seemed frustrated with the whole situation and Steve couldn’t blame her, she just wanted to protect Tony.

“I just hope this is not going to get messy.”, whispered the younger man.

Steve moved away from the wall and put his hand on Tony’s neck, he wanted to comfort him, he saw that it was stressing him out.

Whatever was the deal with Stone and him didn’t seem like a happy story at all, but he wouldn’t push Tony to tell him.

The genius pressed back into Steve’s hand and closes his eyes.

“Even if it gets messy, I will handle the guy, he will not hurt you.”

“You’re oddly protective.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No.”, mumbled the genius before he turned around and leaned against Steve’s chest, it was adorable how he obviously wanted to be hugged but wasn’t sure if it was ok.

Steve wrapped his arms around the smaller man and buried his head in Tony’s soft hair, since their ‘date’ they were way more comfortable with touching each other.

And only a blind couldn’t tell that the genius was touch starved, he turned into a purring kitten the second Steve touched him.

Not that Steve himself didn’t enjoy their newfound intimacy, he loves being able to hold the genius, smell him and feel him.

 

Pepper was able to squeeze Stone into next Friday, they all agreed that this should be over sooner rather than later.

When the day came, Steve was stressed about the whole situation, but he tried to be calm for Tony, the genius was already anxious enough.

Pepper was the one to lead Stone into Tony’s office, the same office where Steve had his job interviews all these weeks ago.

The blond stood right beside Tony’s leather chair and had his hands behind his back, but he was tense and ready to attack at any moment, but Stone didn’t really look like a fighter, more like the creepy stalker type.

“Mr. Stone, take a seat.”, said Tony as politely as possible while being as distanced as possible.

Tiberius seemed confused as he sat down.

“Why so formal?”

“We are going to talk about business, right? At least that what you told Pepper.”

Tony looked really professional and cold, but under the table he was wringing his hands.

“Because otherwise you wouldn’t hear me out! I want to apologize. I know that you are mad about what happened, but you can’t fault me for everything. I didn’t make you do all that, you did it yourself and I even tried to help! Remember how I was there for you after your parents died?!”, began Tiberius, without stopping, even though he could see that Tony didn’t want to hear it.

And Steve was pissed, he was just waiting for Tony to give him a sign and he would get Stone out of this building immediately.

“I do not want to hear it!”, growled Tony.

“I will not talk with you about that, you lied to my assistant about your intentions for this interview and you started talking about this even though you know I don’t want you to! I have to ask you to leave, now.”

As it seemed Steve wasn’t the only one being royally pissed, he moved from behind the desk to get to Stone, that would be enough of a signal from Tony to get him out.

“No! I want to explain!”, shrieked the guy and tried to jump over the table like the madman he was, in an attempt to get to the genius.

But he didn’t take Steve into account, the blond gripped him be the collar, before he even got atop of the desk and tugged him back, hard.

Stone chocked a bit because of how tight his collar got around his neck, but Steve didn’t care.

Steve dragged Stone out of the Office by his collar and got him to the entrance hall in mere minutes, the former soldier had to check his temper, or he would seriously injure this guy, not that he didn’t deserve it.

“The next time I see you here, I will not be this nice.”, snarled Steve before he shoved him out trough the entrance onto the street.

Steve stayed in the middle of that entrance until he was sure that Stone had left, before he took the elevator again to go back to Tony.

Pepper was already with the genius when the blond arrived, Tony didn’t seem bothered, but Steve knew he was.

“I will see to it that everybody knows about him, he is not allowed into any Stark Industries building in the near future, I will assure you.”, said Pepper while texting furiously on her phone.

Steve was happy that Tony got a friend in Pepper, she was fierce when it came to the genius and loyal.

 

“Tell me you didn’t punch him.”, begged Tony.

“It was a close thing.”, grumbled Steve before he gave Pepper a nod while she left.

The moment the door closed behind her, he was in front of Tony, searching for anything that he could have missed, maybe Stone had got to him before Steve had tugged him back.

“Relax, I am fine.”, sighed the genius, even though he leaned into Steve at the same time.

He was shaking a bit.

“You think he will leave you alone now?”, asked Steve, after all that was the whole purpose for this whole situation.

“No.”, confess the smaller man, he buried his face in Steve’s neck.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy it <3

The one thing that was positive about the whole Stone debacle was that it brought Steve and Tony closer together.

Not that there were not close before that, but after it happened the genius seemed to be around Steve a lot more, he trusted him, and he leaned on him for support more often.

Steve even got Tony to take a day off, because after the incident Tony seemed to be in a bad mood and he handled it by staying in his workshop for a long period of time without sleeping.

He worked like crazy and truth to be told it took a bit of help from Pepper to get the genius to stop working even if it was only for one day.

“I don’t like being bored.”, grumbled Tony, who choose to give Steve the cold shoulder for the start of the day.

Steve decided to let him pout until he got it out of his system, so he had stayed silent during Tony’s display of displeasure.

“You don’t have to be bored, we can do something if you like.”, the blond knew how to appease the genius, just keep acting nice.

In his universe that had always drove Tony insane, but here it was the best way to get him into a better mood, Tony seemed to like it if someone didn’t take everything he said or did strictly serious.

So Steve came to the conclusion that getting mad was the old Tony’s tactic of keeping everyone at a distance because he wanted to protect himself.

This Tony was never hurt bad enough to be this paranoid.

The genius looked at Steve, before he opened up a bit, he dropped down beside the blond onto the sofa and even smiled a bit, like Steve had thought, Tony liked that Steve didn’t get mad at his antics.

“I want to watch a movie.”, decided the genius and turned on the TV in front of them.

Watching a movie seemed to be a code word for cuddling, because after only a couple of minutes, Steve noticed how Tony tried to get closer to him sneakily.

But it became clear that he wasn’t brave enough to go all the way, which made Steve wrap his arm around his shoulders and tugging him as close to his side as possible.

That was exactly the right thing to do, because the genius instantly cuddled closer and grabbed onto Steve’s shirt, while resting his head on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to be sneaky about wanting affection. I will give it freely whenever you want.”, said Steve, he was not sure if this was maybe a bit to early, but it was painfully obvious how touch-starved the genius was and how much he needed affection.

And the blond found that quite alarming, because he saw how easy Tony fell into it and if he hadn’t travelled back in time, it would have been very easy for the wrong person to win Tony’s trust.

“Steve… What exactly is this?”, asked the smaller one of the two, and while Steve had secretly dreaded a question like that, he was also relived to answer it for the genius.

Steve’s attention was now completely on Tony and he loved how he looked up at him with his chocolate brown eyes and there was nothing but trust in them.

“I don’t think we have to label it yet, just do whatever feels right for you. I just want you to be happy.”, smiled the soldier and leaned forward to press a loving kiss to Tony’s forehead.

“You’re a sap.”, whispered Tony, but grabbed Steve’s hand at the same time.

 

They continued their day like that, it was just a day full of cuddling and Steve was really proud of himself as he got the genius to take a nap in the afternoon.

Tony’s was pretty grumpy after that, but it was worth it, because he didn’t get not enough sleep as it was.

One thing that really annoyed Steve was that Obadiah Stane was not able to leave Tony alone for even one day.

He didn’t visit, thank god for that, but he called Tony even tough they were in the same building, and it was subtle but Stane’s displeasure about Tony taking a day off was didn’t go unnoticed by Steve nor the genius himself.

Which made Steve angry, it had taken a lot of work and persuasion on Steve’s and Pepper’s side to even get Tony this far.

“Don’t listen to him. I know what you’re thinking right now, but you needed the brake, you are not the only one running the company and taking one day off will not ruin it.”

Tony had this tiny wrinkle between his eyebrows when he was thinking and most of the time his thoughts were not positive.

“I’m not sure Obie agrees.”, said the genius and Steve had to keep his anger in check, Tony had no idea about Stane and still seemed to praise the ground he walked on.

“He is not always right. When it comes to this he thinks more about the company and less about your wellbeing. I don’t want you to risk your health this lightly for something that is not strictly necessary.”, made the blond clear.

He wanted Tony to get it, of course the company was important to the genius, even more so because the company was so important to Stane who was basically Tony’s Stepfather at this point.

But Tony was important, his health was important, and it was not helpful if he drove himself into an early grave, not for the company and not for Stane.

But Tony’s relationship to Stane was an important aspect, because Steve arrived to late to protect Tony from Stane, the genius was already too attached to the man and Steve was not sure if he could prevent Stane’s betrayal.

He would prevent the consequences of that betrayal, Tony would not get hurt, but that didn’t change anything about Stane lying to Tony all these years.

“I’m not going to fight about that. I took a day of and I would be lying if I would say that it wasn’t a great day. But still… I have a job and I have responsibilities.”

Which basically translate to the fact that Tony will not take a day off again anytime soon.

And Steve agreed with the genius in one point, he also did not want to fight.

“I know that, and I respect that, I just want you to take care of yourself.”, said the blond softly.

He stepped behind the genius who stood at the kitchen counter, the phone in front of him.

Steve wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tight to his chest, Tony resisted only for a second before he leaned into the bigger man and relaxed.

The kiss Steve pressed into Tony’s neck was open mouthed and way more intimate than normally, they haven’t gotten that far at all, they just started cuddling today, but Steve just had to, sometimes it was hard for him to supress his urges towards the genius.

“Didn’t think talking about Obie would get you all hot and bothered.”, joked the genius and the reaction was immediate.

Steve let him go and took a step back.

“Way to kill the mood, Stark.”, rumbled the blond and took a deep breath, now this really was not the reaction he was hoping for.

Tony seemed a bit remorseful now, he had obvious not really thought about what he was saying and the way his whole face was red told Steve that he only said that out of nervousness.

“That was not what I wanted to say, I swear!”, was Tony’s way of apologizing.

“It’s ok, just… let’s not talk about him when we are cuddling or intimate, ok?”

“Absolutely!”, agreed Tony instantly, he looked a bit ashamed of himself, which made Steve caress his cheek gently to ease the tension.

“Should we eat something? It’s getting late. I could cook something for us.”

That seemed to brighten Tony’s mood up instantly, he volunteered to help, and the rest of the day was quiet and relaxing for both of them.

 

Sadly, the day was over way too early and Steve got back into his apartment to sleep, even tough Tony was not so happy about him leaving, but as he had already said he wanted to take it slow, do it right.

It was his alarm that ripped him from his dreams about the genius in the morning and Steve started the morning like every day.

He got up for a run, then a shower and then breakfast.

This time tough it was a bit too quiet for his taste while cooking himself fresh eggs, so he turned on the TV and the good start into the day was ruined immediately.

“Exclusively Today an on our channel! Tony Starks Ex-Boyfriend Tiberius Stone will give an exclusive interview about his life with the young billionaire. And just to tease you guys, Tony Stark seems to love a tumble in the sheets, with everybody! Even though he was in a committed relationship and- “

The display shattered as Steve threw the remote into it with enough force that the wall behind the TV trembled under the force.


	6. Chapter 6

“What you’re saying is that Tony Stark not only cheated on you, but that he did it in front of you?”

“It was at a Party and he we arrived there together, he was like that. Always another man or woman on the arm. And the parties were rough, trust me. In public he looks like this well-mannered charming businessman, but when it comes to his private parties, oh boy oh boy…”

“Can you elaborate on that? What happens at these private parties?”

“Sure! Everything from alcohol, to drugs to sex. And if I remember correctly, he even told me he had organized orgys before he met me. So yeah, he knows how to party. But still, I think it is too much, especially because he, pardon my French, has probably f***** the whole city at this point.”

That was what Steve heard as he made his way over to Tony, he had first searched for him in the workshop, where he normally was at this time in the morning.

But after discovering that the workshop was completely empty, the blond had made his way up again to Tony’s apartment and found the door unlocked.

He knocked, but after no one answered and because Steve was able to hear the TV, he entered.

The genius sat on his couch, but he was leaned over, with his one hand gripping his knee and the other cramped around the remote.

“Why are you watching this?”, asked Steve loudly, he thought it would startle him but Tony just kept on staring at the TV and didn’t move.

“I have to know exactly what he says, otherwise I will look like a deer in the headlights when the press confronts me about this on the street.”, his voice was strong and didn’t waver, but Steve could hear that it was forced.

“Don’t do this to yourself, let someone else watch it. You don’t have to listen to him telling those lies.”, tried the blond, because he could see that the genius was torturing himself by watching this.

“You don’t even know if he lies. Maybe it’s all true, maybe I’m exactly the whore he tries to paint me as.”

That made Steve react, he stepped in front of the genius, took the remote out of his hands and turned the TV off.

“Stop it. I know what you are doing, but you don’t have to be strong in front of me. I know that he is only telling lies, because I’ve been here since months and I don’t know that person he is talking about. I had the privilege to get to know you, Tony. And you are kind and sweet and a bit dorky sometimes. He is lying because he is jealous and an asshole!”, growled the blond, he wanted to say all of this as gentle as possible, but he was so angry.

Tony didn’t look Steve in the eye, he stared at his hands the whole time and kept quiet after the bigger man had stopped speaking.

“Everyone will believe it. They love those kinds of story’s…” whispered the genius after some time.

“You don’t need everyone to like you, the people closest to you will know that that is not the truth. Let them talk. There is no evidence, just his words.”, tried the soldier, he didn’t know that much about the press, but he knew that this story will be big for only a couple of days until the next thing happens.

“You are right. I shouldn’t care so much.”, said Tony and rubbed over his eyes before he looked up to Steve and tried to smile.

That small gesture, of rubbing over his eyes, made Steve want to strangle Stone, he was not worth any of Tony’s emotions, that bastard didn’t deserve tears from the genius.

“And the next time we see Stone at an event, I will just punch him in the face, how about that?”

That made the genius chuckle.

“I think I should tell you about Tiberius, I want you to know the whole story.”

“Tony, you don’t have to. You don’t need to explain anything to me.”

“I want to.”, said the genius determined.

Steve nodded, if Tony really wanted to tell him, he would listen, but he was pretty sure that he would hate Stone even more after hearing the whole story.

As he sat down, his phone started to ring in his pocket and he looked to Tony, the genius smiled and nodded as a sign that Steve should take the call.

It was Pepper.

“Are you with Tony?”, was the first question she asked, and she sounded worried.

To be worried about Tony was also Steve’s first reaction after seeing the news so he knew where Pepper was coming from.

“I’m with him.”

Tony knew he was talking the Pepper and the smile that appeared on his lips was really sweet, he was obviously happy to know that there were people who cared about him.

“Thank god… Listen I will not be able to come see him today, I need to deal with this asap. And I will try to keep Obadiah out of the picture as long as I can.”

“Tell me if I can help you in any way.”, said Steve, the blond had already made up his mind, he would pay Stone a visit as soon as possible, he told him to stay away from Tony.

And spreading lies about the genius to the press, didn’t count as staying away.

 

After the blond had ended the call Tony turned to face him on the couch.

“You have to promise me to listen until the end. I will just be able to tell this whole thing once and I don’t want to talk about it afterwards.”, set the genius the ground rules.

It was obviously something that tormented the genius, or it wouldn’t be so hard for him to talk about it.

“Deal.”

“Ok… I met Tiberius at college. I lived in the dorm together with my best friend Rhodey, Colonel James Rhodes, you will probably meet him someday. And Rhodey was like a big brother, really protective of me, because I was young when I started college. I was 17 at the time I met Tiberius.”

Tony stopped there to take a breath.

“I was young, and he was also the heir to a big company, so we bonded over that. Talked about our fathers about our lives and because I really desperately needed someone at that time, especially because Rhodey left for the military, we became a thing. It was not like love at first sight or anything, but I liked him, and he was there…”

Steve felt something clench in his chest as he imagined, young innocent Tony falling for a guy like Tiberius just because he was lonely and needed to be held…

“I was dependent on him and he loved it. Not everything was bad, but after some time he became more and more possessive and he convinced me to try drugs. So he wasn’t really lying about that, I took cocaine a lot in college. It got even worse after my parents had the accident, because I fell into a hole and he just pushed me deeper.”

Now Steve was thinking about not only paying Stone a visit but murdering him in the process.

“It was Rhodey who got me out in the end, he was really pissed when he came back from the army and set my head straight. And he also beat up Tiberius.”, Tony seemed far away as he told Steve all this, but he smiled at the memory of Rhodey beating Stone up.

Steve needed to thank Rhodey, he had probably saved Tonys life.

“After that it took me sometime to get away from all the bad stuff, but I made it, after going to rehab... That is why I want nothing to do with Tiberius. I don’t want to slide back into old habits.”, whispered the genius, and he seemed to avoid talking about the whole relationship thing, but it was crystal clear that the relationship had been abusive and toxic.

“Thank you for telling me.”, said Steve softly, he saw how Tony became tense after finishing, like he expected Steve to jump up and leave him for that.

The genius seemed surprised by Steve’s gentle words and stared at him with wide eyes.

“What about that surprised look?”, asked the blond and took Tony’s hands in his, he caressed the back of his hands with his thumps. Tony should know that he was absolutely devoted to him and nothing could chase him away.

He wanted to be the one solid relationship the genius had, so that he learned that good things were meant to stay and that he did not need to be afraid of being left at any moment.

“You’re not… angry or disgusted?”, asked the smaller man timid.

“Why would I?”

Steve words were final, and he leaned over to press a soft kiss to the genius forehead.

“You are a good person and he is not. I am happy that you were able to escape that situation.”, was all he said, before he pulled Tony into a tight hug.

The genius was hesitant to return the hug at first, but after some time he started to cling to Steve like he was his lifeline. 

And if Steve notices him shaking a little bit, he didn’t say anything about it, he was just happy that Tony trusted him enough to show weakness around him.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated <3


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